Lancashire Cricket Board: A Blog for Christmas
A Blog for Christmas
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John Heaton on 18/12/2013 21:29:00
After a spell of reflection and tendingdonitis
The spell of reflection applies to a couple of issues. If you remember the last
Blog I did followed my final Annual Meeting for Lancashire Schools as its
Honorary Secretary, I did refer to the fact that I was now in "wetirement" –
the phase between being heavily involved in matters cricket to not being
involved at all. Well the last few weeks have indeed been strange but I think I
can now say that I have definitely "retired" from that role which had kept me
busy for such a long time. Ordinarily I would have been up to my neck in
arranging fixtures for 2014. All I have done is re-direct any errant emails
from county contacts that had probably read my email announcing my departure but
had forgotten to Mr Anders at the LCB Office.
My period of reflection coincided with what I now am led to believe was an
intense attack of tendingdonitis in my right ankle. Regular readers will
remember that I do suffer from the dreaded gout and I must admit for some time
over the past six weeks I expressed views as to what was causing me to have
rather a lot of pain and discomfort. A visit to my doctor and a battering from a
physio led to the conclusion that it was a repetitive strain injury possibly
caused by all the driving I did during the last cricket season. I am pleased to
say that over the past couple of weeks matters have improved. For a period of
time I was confined indoors and then had to be transported by the Good Lady. I
managed today to drive into Old Trafford, whoops sorry, Emirates Old Trafford to
see the Mighty Titch and to have a good nosy at their new surroundings in the
Pavilion. The LCB now shares a good chunk of the 2nd Floor looking out over the
Car park with the good people of the LCCC Foundation. It was good to see so many
people hard at work although the allocation of desk space was a little strange.
Tony Potter appeared to be based in the naughty boys' corner for one. Gary
Porter's first words to me were "When are you going to do another Blog". I did
say I was mulling over one. Whilst enjoying one of the Mighty Titch's famous
cups of coffee discussion went over to the goings on in Oz.
The "mulling over" or "reflecting" I mentioned referred not to the actual
cricket being played out in Oz but the basic relationship between the two sets
of players. I have always had a thing about the need to play cricket hard but to
have complete respect for the opposition whoever they may be. There were people
present this afternoon who agreed with me that the traditions of cricket had
been blown apart with the so called sledging between the two warring teams.
Sat sitting at my computer, which I am pleased to say now has Windows 7 and is
operating normally again after being on a go-slow, I have reflected further. One
very good point is that with the matches being played overnight I did not have
to watch too much.
Clearly the Aussies have prepared better in the short time between the end of
the Ashes in the UK to the start of the Ashes in Oz although whoever decided to
play back-to-back Ashes should have their heads banged together. Good luck to
the Aussies in terms of their cricket and we can look forward to getting the
Ashes back in 2015. It could well be that our team will look a little different
by then.
What is "sledging".
Most dictionaries have two definitions:-
"A sledge is a vehicle on runners for conveying loads or passengers over snow or
ice, often pulled by draught animals" - this of course means getting on a
sledge leads to sledging.
"Sledging or "Mental Disintegration" as it is also known is the tactic in
cricket of talking to players on the opposition side (particularly batsmen) with
the objective of destroying either their concentration or their confidence."
Having a word with the opposition, or a bit of banter, was always a part of my
game many, many years ago. Threatening to break someone's arm was not in my
repertoire and certainly I can never remember "sending someone off". Now it may
be viewed by some members of the press as great material for them to write about
but as good viewing for young impressionable up and coming cricketers it is very
bad news. Just recently I came across an article by Jonathan Agnew on this topic
and what disturbed him was the almost total lack of respect being shown between
both teams.
I just wonder whether our mob were so keen to out-sledge the Oz lot that this
has led to them losing the skills of cricket required to win matches. I still
wonder what the umpires feel about all of this and even more what the
administrators of the English and Australian Cricket Boards think.
Every young cricketer in Lancashire who comes into the Age Group system receives
a Players Handbook setting out what is accepted, off the field and on it, from
them when representing the county. I do hope in the final two tests of this
current series that both teams let the cricket do the talking and not their
sledges – for the good of the wider game of cricket.
Enough reflecting for now. I have now got off my soap box.
What else can I tell you? In past times I would have been able to bring you up
to date with cricket happenings but I am now no longer in that loop. I can say
after my afternoon at the Emirates Old Trafford that Shaun has been bombing
along with the Fixtures and will be revealing all soon.
On other matters I still have not seen the Shakers win at home this season even
at Gigg Lane or the JD Stadium. David Flitcroft is now back as Manager and he
fills me with some hope that by the end of the season the club will still be in
the Football League.
John Hood has been quiet about Wigan Athletic' snatching of Uwe Rosler from
Brentford !!!
Sophie and Thomas continue with their football at the weekends although the
Christmas and New Year will see a pause but I would have to say that the major
topic of the moment within my family excluding just me is "What Candy Crush
Level are you on". Although the Good Lady is still pressing on with her world
famous Zoo she is getting seriously stressed out with being stuck for the past
three weeks on Level 125 or something like that. Last Sunday after we had our
regular Sunday meal at Chez Turks Road we had Philip, the lady Pamela, Sophie,
Thomas and the Good Lady all sat flubbing on their Eyepads or Eyephones all
playing this Candy Crush Saga. Philip threatened Civil War in the family when
after just two days of playing Level 125 he moved on to the next Level. He
texted me on Monday this week to inform me. I then had to break the news to the
Good Lady. She took the news with great fortitude and humour ?????
Just a week to go and Christmas will be on us.
I do hope that everyone has a splendid Christmas and that the New Year brings
everyone good cheer. Plus I do hope that we do not come home from Oz having been
dumped 5 nil. Mind you what I would like even more is some decent banter between
the teams and some serious signs of respect.
One question that was asked by not just one person in my visit to EOT this
afternoon was "Where are you going on your next cruise?" The answer was
"nowhere" at the moment. My period of confinement with the tendingdonitis posed
questions on my ability to even walk any distance never mind make my way round a
cruise ship. I have been keeping up to date with what is on offer and indeed
last week I had a phone call from my personal Cruise Advisor, Nicola, at Cunard
Headquarters in Southampton. The improvement in my walking capacities is now
allowing us to consider options. Indeed when I have posted this Blog on the LCB
Website I will have a little internet wandering.
Just checked with the Most Famous Zoo Keeper in the World. Still on Candy Crush
Level 125.
Where's the Tesco ??